Please correct/fill in below as needed. Going alphabetically for the leagues in which most of the division 1 teams play (and many division 2 teams as well):Atlantic Coast - 3/7 teams qualified for state tourney; 0-1 tourney record so far, so 2 of remaining 64 d1&d2 teams in eastern Mass.Bay State - 11/12; 4-3 record so far, so 8 of 64Boston City - 7/14; 2-3 so far, so 4 of 64Catholic Conference - 3/5; 1-0 so far, so 3 of 64Dual County - 6/10 d1&d2; 2-1 so far, so 5 of 64Greater Boston - 5/5; 2-3, so 2 of 64Hockomock - 7/10; 4-1 so far, so 6 of 64Merrimack Valley - 7/11; 2-4 so far, so 3 of 64Middlesex - 5/10; 1-1 so far, so 4 of 64Northeastern - 7/12; 3-3 so far, so 4 of 64Patriot - 6/11; 0-2 so far, so 4 of 64

Bay State League is comprised of Division 1 and 2 teams as well. Milton and Norwood qualified for the division 2 tournament. Not sure what division Dedham is in.

I think any discussion begins and ends with the Bay State League Carey Division. I may be biased but I think its strength is that even the worst team in the Carey division can on any given day beat the best team in the State.

Bay State League is comprised of Division 1 and 2 teams as well. Milton and Norwood qualified for the division 2 tournament. Not sure what division Dedham is in. I think any discussion begins and ends with the Bay State League Carey Division. I may be biased but I think its strength is that even the worst team in the Carey division can on any given day beat the best team in the State.Posted by miked070707

I think the last couple years it has been between the DCL, Baystate, and Middlesex leagues. These leagues year in and out produce great teams. Without knowing the outcome of this years tourney I think the advantage still goes to the DCL with 2 defending state champs (Concord and Weston) and LS as a north finalist last year. There are no easy games in any of these leagues and it usually shows come tourney time.

Theres no doubt the Catholic Conference is in the conversation, but lets not forget Framingham was in the state finals a couple times during those periods where CM and St Johns won. I think the Bay State league has the edge though. Lets not forget that these two leagues play each other in a "jamboree" of sorts and the Bay State league went 5-0 this year and won it the previous year as well. My point with the Bay State league is its depth. Look at Braintree, they are a perennial bottom feeder of the league and yet last season the beat CM in the regular season and took King Phillip to PKs in the post season. Sometime in the last decade I think Newton North was a bottom seed with a 500 record and ended up making a run and winning the North section I believe.

Big three is not much of a league but has %100 representation. Not saying much, I would really have to say in Eastern MA that the Catholic Conference has had the most state titles. Ludlow would have to be the most successful MA team.

I've always had a problem with the Catholic Conference in this respect, in the early 2000's BC High and Weymouth played a lot in the tournament late in the tournament and it would always peak my interest when a couple of BC High's best players were inevitably from Weymouth. That probably has no relevance to this discussion but public schools can't control who plays for them whereas the private Catholic Schools do have a little bit of an advantage in that respect. So for me its far more impressive that the Bay State League annually puts out some of the top teams in the State.

I've always had a problem with the Catholic Conference in this respect, in the early 2000's BC High and Weymouth played a lot in the tournament late in the tournament and it would always peak my interest when a couple of BC High's best players were inevitably from Weymouth. That probably has no relevance to this discussion but public schools can't control who plays for them whereas the private Catholic Schools do have a little bit of an advantage in that respect. So for me its far more impressive that the Bay State League annually puts out some of the top teams in the State.Posted by miked070707

Can some one please explain to me how these private school, St Johns is another one, play in the public school leagues?

As of last season, I had DCL ahead of BSL and then Catholic 3rd. I'll wait until the games are played out and then will reevaulate. It's odd how the Carey does very well, but the Herget flops during the tournament. If you checked the results, the Herget played the Carey division extremely tough. Despite Needham's fall, the BSL is making a strong case to overtake the top spot once again from the DCL.

Newton North beating Masconoment, although I thought there was an outside chance of it happening, this still might be the biggest surprise of the tourney so far.

I don't get that either, but the Catholic Conference is not as good as the Bay State or DCl. Cath Conf has 2 maybe 3 good teams per year. The DCL usually puts 5/6 teams into various quarter finals each year.

I don't get that either, but the Catholic Conference is not as good as the Bay State or DCl. Cath Conf has 2 maybe 3 good teams per year. The DCL usually puts 5/6 teams into various quarter finals each year.Posted by Kipmaster24

Xaverian has been pretty awful over the past couple of years. CM rebuilding this year. MC is have a good run in the tourney, but was at .500 for the season. St. John's out at the hands of A-B. Best chance of a Catholic Conference team winning anything is probably BC High right now.

Bay State Carey has been amazing, Braintree, Newton N. and Framingham. Brookline big game tomorrow and of course Weymouth

Wayland is out, Weston struggled in their last game. L-S just got by Andover. AB and CC with good wins, this will be close, but right now BSL has slight advantage.

Re: Carey and Herget divisions, Carey is the bigger schools, so it's not surprising that they tend to go deeper in the D1 tourney. 1/2 of Herget is D2 schools, and some of the D1s in that division have been D2 in the past. The way the league schedules, the Carey teams play almost all D1 opposition, whereas Herget play more D2, which also may prepare Carey teams better for the state tournament.

Re: Carey and Herget divisions, Carey is the bigger schools, so it's not surprising that they tend to go deeper in the D1 tourney. 1/2 of Herget is D2 schools, and some of the D1s in that division have been D2 in the past. The way the league schedules, the Carey teams play almost all D1 opposition, whereas Herget play more D2, which also may prepare Carey teams better for the state tournament.Posted by concussed

That's definitely true the Carey are the bigger schools, however it would be nice to see a team or two make some noise on the other side. Just mostly speaking in the past 15 years when they had D-2 teams in the tournament, it's always been quiet. I thought this was the chance to become their year, with Wellesley, Natick and Walpole.

The BSC is best this year, but give the DCL some credit for having 3 teams still kicking in the other divisions. And the wins by Brookline and NN to L-S and A-B respectively were from penaltys. Not trying to take anything away from the BSC but things might be closer than poopah9 makes it out to be. But the post season the Carey division has put together has been most impressive.